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UT Blackstone Launchpad

The Blackstone LaunchPad serves as a central hub at UT to connect students, staff, and faculty with entrepreneurial experts and resources. Their mentors help students, staff, and faculty develop their ideas, found companies, and get involved in entrepreneurship at all levels. During the build phase, each AEC team must attend two mentor meetings to further develop their projects. Teams can schedule meetings at https://ugs.utexas.edu/blackstone-launchpad/programs/mentoring.

Using and Tracking AEC Funds

During the build phase, Each team has a budget of $100 to build their prototype. To access these funds, visit Susan Higginbotham in EER 2.848 and ask for the AEC P-card. She will help you to complete tax-exemption purchase forms. (Note: she only has 4 cards to give out, so take into account the possible time delays).

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SCHEDULE

November 30, 2017 - February 12, 2018 Registration period: Teams of 2-5 undergraduate students had until Monday, February 12 at 11:59 PM to submit team details and declare an area(s) of interest.​February 13 - March 8, 2018Project proposal: Teams will submit their project proposals as a slide presentation to eswaec@gmail.com by March 8.

March 9, 2018Proposal presentations: Teams will present their proposals to the AEC committee. See the rubric in the AEC Innovation Guide.

March 12 - April 13, 2018 Build phase: Selected teams spend the 5 weeks before the final judging round developing and building a model prototype. Teams receive a $100 allocated budget and are encouraged to use free MakerSpace resources. Teams must also schedule and attend two mentor meetings with professionals at the UT Blackstone Launchpad.

April 14, 2018 Final presentations: The competition concludes with teams presenting to a panel of sponsor and faculty judges. The winning teams will be announced. We will provide snacks and refreshments.